Soul Society Revolution: Shinigami Betrayal
by kingleviathan
Summary: Ichigo is a soul in the Rukongai who is selected to enter the Shinigami Academy and becomes strong joining the 5th division and pledging himself to Aizen's cause. Chapter 3 now up.
1. Shinigami Academy

**A/N: This is a story I have always wanted to see but have never really found one that does the idea justice. In this story Ichigo is a soul in Rukongai about the same time as Rukia is and as he joins the Shinigami Academy with her he begins a journey that will change Soul Society forever.**

**A/N: I have revised this first chapter for mistakes and have added more to it to make it seem less rushed.**

A young boy whose hair was the uncommon colour of orange lay in a crawlspace underneath a destroyed building, a sight not unusual in 78th district of Rukongai, he was watching the group of kids who were currently standing in front of the building.

This was not unusual as most days he could be found watching the groups that passed by what was his makeshift home, but today was different, he had seen this group before and he noticed that two of the kids who were always in this group were not there.

This was further proven by the conversation that the group were having and he received his answer of what had happened from one of the boys in the group when he said, "Rukia and Renji were taken away last night, it was a Shinigami, so I guess they've been recruited, lucky them."

The boy who had been hiding found this interesting but did not have time to think on it as before he realised what was going on he was dragged out of the hole he was hiding in and forced to stand up. In front of him were two Shinigami, the one who had picked him up speaking, "Looks like he has enough Reiatsu, kid what's your name?"

He was not able to do anything else and he knew he had no choice, so he answered, "Kurosaki Ichigo." The Shinigami who had not yet spoken wrote what looked like the boys name in his notebook and replied, "Okay Ichigo well it looks like you're going to the Shinigami Academy."

Before Ichigo could even respond he was speeding away from the home that he had made for himself since he arrived after dying in the living world, unable to even struggle in the tight grip of the Shinigami he resigned himself to fate.

**

* * *

**

Ichigo stood in a room that was filled with many other kids of varying ages including those who were both older and younger than himself, looking to his right he saw the black hair girl and red hair boy who he had notice missing from the group of children this morning.

He recognised their names as Rukia and Renji, thinking that they might be enjoyable company he told himself to try and make friends with them.

The Shinigami, who Ichigo realised must be a teacher at the Academy, finished explaining about how being enrolled at the Shinigami Academy would change them and told everyone that they would now have ten minutes to talk to each other before they would be called into the room behind him to be tested for their level of Reiatsu.

He turned to start up a conversation with the two kids beside him but before he could the red haired boy came up to did so for him, "Hey, my name's Renji and this is Rukia," pointing to the girl, "from your clothes it looks like you're from a poor district like us, everyone else looks to be from a rich district so it's probably best if we stick together."

The three of them spent the next ten minutes talking to each other and by the end of it they had already become friends, a first for Ichigo who had not had a friend since arriving in Soul Society. They decided to make the courtyard outside of the main Academy building their meeting place and went their separate ways to be tested.

Hearing his name Ichigo walked towards the door that he was being pointed to and entered to find a Shinigami waiting with some sort of machine in his hand.

"Okay, Kurosaki Ichigo, just stand here." The Shinigami said before moving the machine around what Ichigo assumed must be his Reiatsu.

The machine made a noise and the Shinigami looked at the screen, which must have shown some sort of reading that he recorded. Ichigo thought he saw the Shinigami's eyes widen slightly but was sure he was mistaken when a second later his eyes returned to normal.

Ichigo was told where his room was and that he would be told what his classes were soon, so he left the room and began walking towards what he was told would be his new home.

* * *

The Shinigami who had been measuring the Academy entrants Reiatsu measured the last kid's spiritual power and sent the boy out of the room. He checked to make sure that no one was left outside the room and released the illusion that he had created before the exam, in his place stood the 5th division Captain Aizen Sosuke.

Aizen couldn't believe what he had seen whilst testing the Reiatsu of the kids, sure some had been quite powerful for their age and some showed a lot of potential if not power, but one kid, Kurosaki Ichigo, had been given an extremely high reading, by the Reiatsu reading machine.

The reading was so high that if it was reported as it is it would be the first time since Ichimaru Gin that a reading this high had been recorded on an Academy entrant, the boy would be marked automatically and watched more than anyone else, that was something Aizen could not allow.

When he had made himself appear as the Shinigami who would take the Reiatsu readings he had intended to gather information about whether Soul Society was heading towards a strong or weak point, he had received his answer when a larger number than usual of strong readings occurred but to have someone with the potential to become a Captain appear had never crossed his mind.

Now Aizen found himself in a good situation, a boy with strength who could be turned to Aizen's cause as Gin had been. So to make this possible, so that he could influence the boy Aizen erased the real recording and replaced it with one that was slightly above average.

This would allow for Ichigo to learn at a level that he could easily excel at, if taught right, but also allowed Aizen to one day recommend the boy for the 5th division squad without competition when the boy had learnt enough from the Academy.

Though this seemed like a good plan Aizen realised that it carried with it one major flaw, the amount of Ichigo's Reiatsu, which even a Shinigami with minimal ability to sense Reiatsu would be able to tell was higher than what was recorded for him. As such Aizen, in an attempt to conceal this, had used Kyoka Suigetsu to give Ichigo's Reiatsu the illusion of being smaller than in reality.

When he decided it was time to bring Ichigo into his division he would take him from the Academy and then, when Ichigo's transfer to the 5th division was confirmed, Aizen would release the illusion and place Ichigo into a seated rank where he could not be watched as vigorously as in the Academy.

Placing the notepad with the results in the box with the rest of the notebooks Aizen reapplied the illusion to himself and exited the room, heading on his way to Gin and Tosen to tell them about the boy he had discovered.

* * *

Ichigo was walking with Renji on his way to the advanced class talking about what they thought they would learn in the coming class. Yesterday after being tested Ichigo had gone to his room and found out that he was sharing the room with Renji, he had spent the rest of the day with Rukia and Renji getting to know them.

In the morning Ichigo had found out that both he and Renji had been placed in the advanced class because of their above average Reiatsu whilst Rukia was sent to the normal class. Ichigo thought that Rukia had been unfairly judged and believed that just because she didn't have a large Reiatsu didn't mean that she had to be labelled as normal.

Arriving at the class Ichigo and Renji sat in their seats and listened as the Shinigami who was the teacher talked about what they would be learning and what he expected of them. The teacher looked to be a seated officer but it was hard to tell as Ichigo didn't yet have the ability to understand the Reiatsu he detected from the man.

As the days went on Ichigo found that he could understand and learn what the teacher taught them which was in contrast to Renji who had to put everything into it, just to keep up with Ichigo. Ichigo also found that although he, like Renji had trouble controlling his Kido, that if he limited the amount of Reiatsu he was outputting he could accomplish the easier Kido without trouble.

This did not help Renji however as even after Ichigo explained to him how to restrain his Reiatsu, he maintained that he couldn't. Ichigo at first was unconvinced about this but accepted it after Renji's Kido blew up in his face even though he was following Ichigo's instructions.

Apart from teaching them how to control their Reiatsu, use Kido and how to use their Zanpakuto, which they had received upon entering the Academy, the advanced class had also brought them two new friends, Kira Izuru and Hinamori Momo.

Though their days were sometimes busy they still found time to just hang out with Rukia who told them how easy she thought the normal class was. This enlightened Ichigo to one of the problems of Soul Society, they test applicants to the Academy by their Reiatsu only, and this in Ichigo's opinions was a mistake.

Rukia was actually a perfect example of this; she had normal Reiatsu levels but her determination and ability to learn were high enough that if she were given a chance then she would probably be able to keep up with most of the advanced class.

This combined with what Ichigo knew about the outer districts of Rukongai combined to show him that the Shinigami were being detrimental to everyone. By not patrolling and keeping the law in all of the Rukongai they were allowing many potential Shinigami to be undiscovered and of those that were discovered had a good chance of not going far if they didn't have a large enough Reiatsu.

Ichigo realised that by doing this Soul Society actually kept their Shinigami population to a minimum, if someone were to gather the potential Shinigami that were never discovered then maybe they would be able to overrun Soul Society.

These thoughts however would have to be forgotten for awhile, Ichigo realised, because at the moment there was no way for him to test his theory, not to mention that Ichigo feared that if he told anyone else of this idea that they may lock him up somewhere to ensure the rule that Soul Society currently had.

In any case Ichigo had more important things to do, like the one he was currently working on, learning to use his Zanpakuto. His Zanpakuto had the shape of a katana with a normal guard and a black hilt and sheath that he wore at his hip. He had already managed to communicate with it and had learned its name was Zangetsu.

Ichigo thought that his Zanpakuto looked fairly normal but was confused by it as whenever he held it he got the feeling that it was special, like maybe it was a strong katana but he guessed he wouldn't know until he had mastered it.

* * *

Aizen Sosuke was standing in the office of the Shinigami Academy president showing him the names of the Academy graduates that he wished to join the 5th division. It had been a year since he had the discovered a young boy named Ichigo who had a very large Reiatsu and after having discussed it with Gin and Tosen both of whom had recently become captain it they had decided what to do.

Kurosaki Ichigo's name would be place on the normal list of Academy graduates that each division submitted each year and he would be placed into Aizen's division before any of the other Captains could discover.

The president looked over the list and spoke, "Well this looks in order I can authorise their transfer from the Academy to the 5th division, the only problem is this name, Kurosaki Ichigo, he's not a graduate and he's only been here a year."

Aizen smiled and nodded, "I know but I've been watching some of the practical work he's been doing and I think he'll fit in with my division."

"Very well Captain he'll be transferred tomorrow as well, I'll see you next year."

Aizen walked out of the office toward his own division to tell his temporary lieutenant about the choices he had made in Academy graduates, but first he would have to meet with Ichigo, the boy was about to be brought into the conspiracy that would hopefully end the current era of Shinigami.

* * *

Ichigo was following his usual daily schedule which involved him and Renji going to their class and meeting the other students that they had met over the past year. This day however was different and Ichigo discovered it when upon entering the class he saw a Shinigami from the 5th division.

Whilst this would usually not be anything to note, this Shinigami was not a teacher nor had they been told he would be coming, Ichigo knew this could only mean one thing, someone was about to be transferred.

The shock of this continued for Ichigo when the Shinigami turned to him and said, "Kurosaki Ichigo, you've been chosen to be transferred to the 5th division."

What happened next was a blur of sorts to him, he remembered the shock look on the face of Renji and his other friends, the Shinigami leading him away from the class and entering an office where a Captain, who Ichigo knew to be Aizen Sosuke, was seated.

The Shinigami who had brought him here then left the office and Ichigo's thinking returned to normal, Ichigo smiled, he realised that although he did not yet know why this had happened that it didn't matter because Ichigo had just taken the fast track to becoming a Shinigami.

Knowing this Ichigo looked at the Captain, who Ichigo supposed was now his Captain, and waited to hear what he had to say. Some might have been worried about the situation that Ichigo was in, thinking they were not ready, but Ichigo knew he was ready; he had been ever since he had learned to communicate with his Zanpakuto.

**A/N: I hope this chapter was alright make sure to tell me what you think and review.**


	2. 5th Division

**A/N: This is the second chapter, it involves the first real fight scene I've ever written so I'd appreciate if you could tell me how it went. Thanks to those who reviewed I hope you like this chapter.**

Aizen looked at Ichigo who stood on the opposite side of the desk staring at him with brown eyes that showed some intelligence as well as seriousness. The boy knew that being transferred to the Gotei 13 without graduating was unusual and he wanted to know why.

"Welcome to the 5th Division, I'm sure you're wondering why you've been transferred from the Academy..." Aizen said but was cut off by Ichigo, "Oh, I'm not worried about that, I mean I'm pretty sure if they gave me the graduation test right now I'd pass it without any trouble, but what I can't understand is how you knew that I was ready to be transferred, it's not like I've been showing off what I can do, so, how did you know?"

Ichigo's words caused Aizen to realise something, 'So, he knew he was more powerful than his teachers thought he was but he did not inform them that they were wrong.' The only reason that Ichigo, would have had for this would be if he didn't want people to know his true power.

Deciding that the best way to gain Ichigo's trust was to be honest he explained to the boy the truth, "The reason that I knew you would be ready is because when I met you, which was during your Academy entrance exam, you were giving off a powerful Reiatsu."

The boy's eyes narrowed as realisation dawned upon him, "You were the man who was examining the Reiatsu of everyone weren't you."

Aizen nodded and continued, "I could tell from your Reiatsu that you were strong and I wanted you to be part of my Division, so I created an illusion to make you appear weaker than you actually are."

Ichigo seemed to be thinking about this but he didn't reply so Aizen continued. "I know it sounds weird, you're probably thinking that I could have just requested that you transferred to the 5th Division upon graduation but it doesn't work like that, if you had shown your potential at the academy then I wouldn't be able to suggest the transfer and you would be placed in whichever in a Division where you may not rise through the ranks as fast as you will here."

"So you're saying that you can help me get a rank that I deserve, which I wouldn't be able to obtain easily without you. I guess that makes sense, so, what rank do you have in mind."

Aizen smiled, "You could, with the right direction, be strong enough and capable enough to become a Captain in a few years."

Genuine shock showed on Ichigo's face, he had expected that one day he might become a Captain but he had thought that would be decades away, to be told that there was such a quick route, it made Ichigo wonder about his new Captain's motive.

"Why would you offer something like this to me, what are you going to gain from it."

Aizen replied, "It seems that I was right about you, what I would gain from this is something I'm sure you'd like to gain as well a new Soul Society."

"A new Soul Society?" Ichigo questioned and was answered, "Surely while you were in the poor district you came from that it was neglected, well it's not the only one, most of the districts are basically a dump and even the richer districts which have a better appearance are lawless. The end result is that all the souls hate us Shinigami and its the Soul Kings fault, he has the power to make the Rukongai great but he refuses to do anything and instead hides where no one can get to him."

"Are you insane?" Ichigo asked, "You want to commit treason and you want me to help, they'd execute us for just talking about this, how could you even think that you might succeed."

Aizen countered, "I will succeed. Forty years ago my plan was put into action when I managed to remove those who threatened to expose me, now no one would even think me capable of such a thing. Besides we would not be working on our own, Kaname Tosen, Captain of the 9th Division, and Ichimaru Gin, my Lieutenant, have already been given their parts in my plan, so just tell me are you in?"

"I understand what you mean and I agree, given that I guess the answer is yes." Ichigo answered, "So what's going to happen to me."

Aizen touched his Zanpakuto and said, "I've just released the illusion as it's not needed anymore, since your now in the Gotei 13 your Reiatsu won't cause any problems as long as you contain it, from here you'll be given the 3rd seat position, of course you'll have to beat the current 3rd seat first but that shouldn't be a problem since I'm sure you've learnt your Shikai. When Gin is promoted to Captain, which should be in a year or two, you'll be moved to the post of my Lieutenant as by then I'm sure you'll be powerful enough for that. After that the time it takes for you to become a captain is entirely up to how long you take to become Captain strength and learn you Bankai."

Nodding in understanding Ichigo said, "I suppose that it won't be just be a matter of becoming as strong as a Captain but also making sure that there is a position open, well I don't have a problem with that after all living in the Rukongai taught me something, if your strong you should prove by defeating anyone who stands in your way, if your weak you should hide watching the strong fight, I don't intend to ever again be one of those who are classed as weak."

Ichigo's personality had seemingly changed from when they had started talking and Aizen had noticed it, looking at the orange haired boy he saw that much like himself Ichigo was hiding his real self. At first appearing someone whose only noticeable attribute was intelligence, he had begun to show himself to Aizen as he realised the man would not think bad of him, now after hearing what Ichigo said Aizen realised that the boy had an ability to not care about people dying, in a way similar to Gin, but unlike Gin who always seemed happy, Ichigo showed anger, something that to some people could weaken them, however in Ichigo's case it might just make him more powerful.

Standing up and picking up the Shinigami's uniform on his desk, Aizen handed it to Ichigo and told him, "I'm going to get the fight between you and our 3rd seat set up, until then change into you uniform and get to know the people in the 5th Division, I'll send a messenger, to tell you when everything's ready, he'll bring you to the 5th Divisions training grounds, after that you'll want to check out your new room."

Ichigo accepted the uniform and his room key and left the office on his way to get changed. After he had left Gin entered the office and gave his report on Ichigo's friends from the Academy, Aizen still wasn't sure whether they'd be useful or not, in any case it'd be a few years before he could use them and from what he had heard of them they could only be used as long as they knew nothing about his plans.

**

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**

Entering the training grounds Ichigo saw many members of the fifth Division who seemed to be reacting to this fight as some sort of entertainment. He could see why, ever since his first sparing fight in the Academy he had loved fighting, perhaps it was because he was strong enough that he had never defeated in a fight or perhaps it was because while fighting he could prove to everyone that he was not weak, in any case he didn't care all he knew was that while he was fighting he was happy.

Looking ahead he saw Captain Aizen standing with his lieutenant Ichimaru Gin, a creepy looking man who looked to have a perpetual smile on his face, waiting for him. Stopping in front of his Captain he asked, "So who's this guy I'm fighting?" Aizen didn't answer but rather pointed to a normal sized black haired man who had a Reiatsu that was slightly above average but nothing to brag about.

Ichigo understood why Aizen had assumed he'd win, the man wouldn't be able to handle Ichigo and that meant that he could have some fun. Looking around at the spectators he noticed that many of them were worried about him and he wondered how they would react when the fight was over. Taking a fighting stance he faced his opponent and placed his hand on Zangetsu.

The man smiled and said, "Okay kid don't worry I'll easy on you, just remember this is to test to see how strong you are so we know whether you should get a seated position or not." The fight started when Captain Aizen yelled, "Begin!"

The 3rd seat whose name was Goro immediately ran towards Ichigo and drew his sword slashing at the boy, Ichigo waited until the blade was an inch from his face and then leaned to the right, drawing Zangetsu and in the process of doing so cutting Goro on the right of his midsection.

Goro stepped back and looked and the small trick of blood coming from the cut, "Good work kid I guess it's my fault for playing around like that, don't worry it won't happen again." Running towards Ichigo he again made to slash at him however this time making sure to block Ichigo's blade when he stuck he then kicked Ichigo in the leg in an attempt to trip him but was surprised to see that the boy's leg wouldn't budge.

Abandoning his attempt to trip Ichigo he pushed off his Zanpakuto and spun around trying to use Ichigo's surprise to find an opening but was again met with his opponent's blade stopping his own. Pushing off again he attempted to end it quickly once more and was stopped again.

Ichigo could see that Goro was becoming annoyed that he was unable to land a hit of him and he was having fun, he found that the man's attacks were fairly slow and becoming more erratic, the more angry he became, and that just meant it would be easier to parry Goro's strikes.

Realising that his attacks weren't working Goro retreated back out of range of Ichigo and said, "Your good kid, better than I thought you'd be, I might even need to use my Shikai to beat you so if I were you I'd use my best." Smiling Ichigo asked, "You want me to use my best against you?" Goro nodded and Ichigo whispered too low for him to hear, "You asked for it."

Sheathing his Zanpakuto he placed his left hand on his sheath whilst his right hand held onto the hilt and said, "Shine Zangetsu." Quickly drawing Zangetsu he slashed at Goro resulting in a black wave of Reiatsu speeding towards Goro, who held up his sword and blocked the attack from reaching him.

Looking down at his Zanpakuto Goro was surprised to see that a crack had appeared in it and he was impressed, looking at Ichigo and complimented, "Good work, if that had hit me it would have done some damage it's just too bad that I managed to block it. Ichigo tilted his head and replied, "You didn't block my attack."

Goro's eyes showed shock as two large gashed opened on his back and he fell to the ground not moving. The muttering of the spectators could be heard and some of the 5th Division Shinigami surrounded trying to see if he was alright, he even heard one of them yelling for someone to fetch a member of the 4th Division but Ichigo knew it was too late, the damage was done and by the time a healer arrived Goro would be beyond help.

Moving over to where his Captain and Lieutenant stood he said, "You were right that was easy, I guess most Shinigami are just pretty weak." Gin, his wide mocking smile continuing to show replied, "Oh come now Kurosaki it's not fair to compare yourself to normal Shinigami, your special like me." Ichigo wasn't sure whether that was a compliment or not but he did know that he was right.

"That is an impressive Shikai Ichigo." Pointing to Zangetsu which had become longer and had gained slight curves, which made it appear similar to a scimitar. "Its ability was interesting, I'm guessing that the black beam of Reiatsu was a diversion from the real ability, which if I'm not wrong allows you to launch an attack from any amount of positions at different times. It seems similar to how the sun's light can still hit the earth by reflecting off the moon."

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah that's right, which is why I named it Gekkou Touei as the name fits the attack best I think, anyway I'm now the third seat right?" Aizen answered, "Rest up tonight, tomorrow you'll meet Tosen and I'll explain the plan." Ichigo headed towards his room, he was on his way to a new life.

**Gekkou Touei: Moonlight Reflection**

**A/N: Make sure to review and tell me what you think of the story I'd especially appreciate being told how the fight scene was and if it was believable. **


	3. 5th Division Lieutenant

**A/N: Thanks to all those who have read my story and reviewed, I really appreciate that you took time to write something about the story. In other news I'll be having exams soon so for the next few weeks updates will be slow, but after that I'll be able to update faster.**

Ichigo walked down the main corridor of the 5th Division headquarters on his way to Captain Aizen's office, so he could learn of the plan that his Captain had mentioned.

Along the way many members of the 5th Division had greeted him and he was surprised to see that they didn't seem to care that Ichigo, who had the appearance of a thirteen year old boy, out ranked him. To the contrary of this many of them seemed to now respect Ichigo after seeing him fight yester day.

It was weird how easily most Shinigami would obey someone just because that person is stronger than them, however it was not the same case for everyone and Ichigo had noticed that some Shinigami, who seemed to have been friends of Goro, seemed to resent him, not that it mattered they would be dealt with in due time.

Coming up to his Captain's office he knocked once before entering and was met with Captain Aizen, Lieutenant Ichimaru and Captain Kaname.

"I'm here, so what the plan that you have for removing the Soul King."

Aizen looked up from his desk and smiled, "It's a very complex plan, which is why no one has yet been able to see through the plan, and to make sure we aren't suspected I'll be using this." Drawing his Zapakuto he showed it to Ichigo before sheathing it, "Its name is Kyoka Suigetsu and its ability is complete hypnosis, this means it can make anyone see any illusion I want them to and it's through this that we'll make sure that no one suspects us."

"Okay, that's how'll we will make sure that were not suspected but how are we actually to get to the King, from what I heard at the Academy he can't be reached."

"You need to have patience Ichigo, what you said about the King is true, not only is he in the royal palace which we cannot reach at the moment but he also has a selection of Shinigami at Captain level strength that are called the Zero Division." Aizen replied.

"If it's impossible to reach the King then what's the point of all th-?" Ichigo asked but was interrupted by Aizen, "I didn't say it was impossible to reach him, I just said that we couldn't get to him at the moment. You see there is a key, known as the Royal Key, that allows access to the royal palace but unfortunately we there is no known record of where the key is, so we will have to make one ourselves."

Ichigo nodded in understanding and Aizen continued, "To make the key a large amount of sacrifices will be required in a high Reiatsu in the living world and it's doubtful that we'll at that point be able to continue hiding the plan, nor will the rest of the Gotei 13 ignore this, which is why I've been experimenting on strong Hollows in an attempt to give them Shinigami powers, similar to Arrancar but more powerful."

Ichigo laughed at this, "Hahaha, an army of Hollows to hold off the army of Shinigami that will try to stop us, sounds good provided they don't get in my way."

"Yes, but it will take a long time to perfect the process of artificially making Arrancar and I'm sure that it won't be possible until we find Urahara Kisuke and his Hogyoku." Aizen told Ichigo.

"I see, so once we find this Urahara Kisuke we'll begin the revolution, that shouldn't be too hard."

For the first time Tosen decided to enter the conversation, "It won't be that easy, Urahara has been hiding for forty years now, ever since he went into exile, and until he slips up and reveals himself we won't be able to do anything."

Aizen held up his hand to tell Tosen to stop and continued, "It's not that bad, yes it will take awhile but think of it this way, any time you spend waiting for Urahara to turn up will be more time you can spend becoming stronger and gaining allies who will help us. So what do you think of the plan Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded, "Well it sounds good, but it's not like the plan has to be good because in a few decades they'll be no one that can stop me."

Having finished being told about the plan Ichigo exited the room and walked down the corridor on his way to train leaving the two captains and the Lieutenant on their own.

Gin could sense that something was wrong with Tosen and so he asked, "Is there something wrong Tosen, you seem tense."

Tosen replied, "There something wrong with that boy, he doesn't fear his weapon and from what I saw of his fight yesterday he seems to fight solely for the purpose of proving how strong he is."

Aizen frowned at this, "Is there something wrong with trying to prove that you're strong."

"No, but the way he acts, he doesn't have respect for you, he seems too much like those idiots from the 11th Division."

This troubled Aizen, was Tosen suggesting that he had seen something that Aizen himself hadn't, "Do you think that he can't be trusted to work with us?"

"I'm not saying that, if you think that he will follow you without question that's fine, I'm just saying that we should watch him carefully."

Tosen exited the room leaving Aizen and his Lieutenant to think over what his subordinate had told him, "Gin, what do you think of Ichigo?"

Ichimaru Gin shrugged, "Who knows, he's powerful and he'll definitely be as useful to the plan as I am, but Kaname is right about him being similar to the rouges from the 11th Division, except perhaps that he seems smarter than them. Besides it's not really my place to choose, you picked him Aizen-sama, and for as long as I've known you, you've never made a bad decision."

This relieved Aizen, Gin was right, there was plenty of time to ensure that Ichigo respected him and with Ichigo on their side it would only put Soul Society at a worse disadvantage.

**

* * *

**_One Year Later_

Ichigo stood on the outskirts of Soul Society where a number of Hollows had appeared and gone unchallenged for the last few hours. The boy who looked no different than he had a year ago wore for the very first time the 5th Division armband, which he had received the night before after Gin had been promoted to 3rd Division Captain, on his right arm.

The promotion to Lieutenant had not been a surprise to him as he had been told a week ago that it would be occurring by Aizen-sama, who had told him that the suspicious death of the former Captain of the 3rd Division was not something unheard of and that it would be attributed to a group of Hollows.

In his first act as the newly appointed Lieutenant he had as soon as he heard that a group of Hollows had appeared which was how he had ended up where he was now, standing in front of five Hollows who were looking at him like a dog looks at a piece of meat. Normally a situation that would cause most fear Ichigo was more irritated that the Hollows weren't more powerful and drew Zangetsu wanting to finish it quickly.

The Hollows didn't seem to be particularly worried about Ichigo until he commander, "Shine, Zangetsu." The resulting wave Reiatsu caused by the release causing them, in their animal like instinct, to immediately attack.

Watching as, to Ichigo's eyes, the Hollows slowly approach, he lifted the long Scimitar, in the previous year he had become strong enough that he could now create five Gekkou Touei at once and control them perfectly. In truth he could possibly create ten at once but they would not be as powerful and he might not be able to control them.

Seeing one of the Hollows now only a few steps away from him he launched the five attacks and watched as five beams of Reiatsu that seemed to bend light flashed towards the Hollows. All five were hit and a second later had their backs and fronts sliced open, one even being split in two, as they collapsed on the ground and died.

He could have done more damage to them before killing them, he could have left them in extreme pain, but he went by the philosophy that unless someone could prove they were at his level then there was no need for him to fight as his level. Releasing his Shikai he began his journey Seireitei so that he could tend to the new duties that came with being a Lieutenant of a Gotei 13 Division.

Arriving at his Division's headquarters he began working on organising the Divisions duties for the next few days and allocating the jobs that were given to the 5th Division. It was probably the easiest part of duties, mostly because it didn't actually require him to do anything and he doubted that anyone would complain about what they were allocated whether out of respect for someone who had become their Lieutenant after only a single year as a Shinigami.

He had just finished allocating the jobs when he sensed a Hell Butterfly heading towards him, it couldn't be from Aizen-sama which meant that it was likely a message sent out to all the Lieutenants. Seeing the Butterfly arrive in front of him he listened to the message, "All Lieutenants are to report to the first Division headquarters Lieutenants meeting room immediately, no one else is to be told about this impromptu meeting to avoid panic."

Now that was interesting, he'd heard that meetings sometimes occurred without warning, but to tell only the Lieutenants and, he assumed, the Captains mean that something very unusual had occurred. Posting on the wall the job allocation he immediately headed the 1st Division to find out what was so important.

At the meeting room eleven of the thirteen Lieutenants were waiting to find out what was going on, the two that were missing were from the 5th Division and the 1st Division. Kaien who had become annoyed at having to wait so long asked, "I can understand why Chojiro isn't here yet, he's probably being briefed, but where the hell is Gin?"

The current Lieutenant of the 3rd Division, Daisuke, looked up from where he was sitting, "You haven't heard yet Kaien, I suppose it did only happen last night, it's now Captain Ichimaru, he just became the 3rd Division Captain last night."

"No, I hadn't heard, although it's not a huge surprise, so who's the new 5th Division Lieutenant." Asked Kaien

"That would be me."

The eleven Shinigami turned to see the orange haired boy who had entered the room, "My names Kurosaki Ichigo, so, does anyone know what we're doing here."

Hisagi Shuhei took it upon himself to answer, "Nope, although from what I heard the Captains saying it got something to do with Hollows appearing."

"What's important enough about Hollows to warrant a meeting like this?"

Hisagi didn't know the answer to that but Kaien did, "There not just Hollows, they're Menos, could even be Adjuchas, in any case the Captains will probably handle them and we'll most likely end up being the ones that will go through the areas cleaning up the mess that's been made."

Ichigo thought that was understandable, Adjuchas could be powerful, although that didn't mean that he couldn't beat one, just that Soul Society didn't believe that anyone under the rank of Captain could do so.

Footsteps could be heard approaching the room and Chojiro entered, "Well I trust you all know the situation by now, there's estimated to be twelve Adjuchas class Hollows that have entered Soul Society, all Captains, excluding the Captain-Commander, have been assigned the spiritual power one of these Adjuchas and they are currently heading towards them."

"Then what do they want us to do, because if I've been called here for no reason again, well let's just say don't expect me at the next meeting." Stated Kaien, was had becoming annoyed at the duties of a Lieutenant which he had never wanted in the first place.

"You have never been called here without a reason Kaien, the reason you were called here was so that you could all follow are your own Captain and conduct damage control."

Most of the Lieutenants smirked at having predicted why they had been called here and they began leaving so they could follow their Captains. Ichigo having exited the room headed west, where he could sense Captain Aizen's Reiatsu, and used flash step to get to his destination faster.

Arriving at where he had sensed Aizen he found nothing and for a moment he wondered if he had made a mistake, he realised that he had not made a mistake when he sensed a strong Reiatsu inches from the side of his face. Rolling forward he just manage to get out of the way in time to see a Hollow's fist pass through where his head had once been.

The Adjuchas class Hollow, who had the appearance of a wolf, spoke out in a higher pitched voice then most would think possible, "Little Shinigami, are you afraid, you should be since I'm going to kill you and devour your entire body, hehehe."

'The fact that Aizen-sama has disappeared, and that the Hollow is still alive can only mean one thing, Aizen wants me to kill this Hollow, he probably considers it a test." Ichigo thought, deciding that if his Captain had given him a challenge he would accept it.

Drawing Zangetsu, he leapt at the Hollow attempting to slice him in half but was blocked by the Hollows two arms which he had used as thought they were a blade themselves. Unfortunately for the Hollow he had underestimate Ichigo's Reiatsu and so Zangetsu had cut strait through his left arm while leaving a large cut in his right.

In severe pain the Hollow jumped back and looked at Ichigo with a glare, the Hollow looked like it was having trouble moving but Ichigo was confused, this Hollow's Reiatsu felt too weak for an Aduchas. Not having dealt with an opponent of this strength before he didn't know of some of the tricks that were often used, so when the Hollow's Reiatsu tripled from what it had been before and he began charging a Cero in his mouth, Ichigo couldn't react in time.

The Cero was launched and knowing that he couldn't dodge it, Ichigo employed the only defence he could, sliding his hand along the length of Zangetsu, he yelled, "Shine, Zangetsu!" The Cero hit its mark on Ichigo and the Hollow, who was expecting the boy to be dead, was surprised to see Ichigo standing completely unharmed and with his Zapakuto pointing towards the Hollow.

Now that he had released his Shikai he knew he had won, so he created five Gekkou Touei aimed them at the Hollow and stated, "Gekkou Touei."

The five white beams of Reiatsu sped towards the Hollow, who turned his head just in time to see one of the beams hit his face, and became engulfed in dirt that was blown up from the collision of the attack.

Checking for Reiatsu signatures Ichigo sensed nothing and presuming that meant he had won he was about to seal his Zanpakuto. That was until the Hollow catapulted out of the dust cloud smashing into Ichigo and in the process of doing so almost breaking his left arm.

Flying backwards through the air Ichigo landed on his feet and looked at his first opponent to survive the Gekkou Touei.

The Hollow, who was bleeding from five gashes which were on different parts of his body, smiled, "Did you really think that one measly attack like that could kill me, I've fought hundreds on Shinigami, and not one of them could beat me, so you have no chance."

The Hollow charged up a Cero and fired it at Ichigo once more but this time he was ready for and flashed stepped out of the way, ending up behind the Hollow, and slashed at his back.

Receiving a small gash in his back and again fired a Cero, Ichigo dodged this as he had before but this time he jumped ending up above the Hollow's head with his blade swing towards his right arm.

The Hollow was now armless and angry, "So what if you cut off my arms I'll just grow them back."

"You won't have the chance too."

Pointing Zangetsu once more at the Hollow this time he decided to push himself to the max creating ten Gekkou Touei at once, the Hollow remembering how long the boy's attack took to reach him last time began charging a fourth Cero, knowing that he would have enough time.

Just as Ichigo said, "Gekkou Touei." The Hollow attempted to fire the Cero but stopped when he felt ten black beams of Reiatsu flashing towards him, each of them three times stronger than the last beams had been and three times faster.

Before he could do anything else the ten beams hit him and he disintegrated, leaving nothing but the remnants of his mask.

Ichigo himself was probably more surprised than the Hollow about the attack, he had always heard that in battle people could become stronger and here was the proof, this morning he would have strained to create ten Gekkou Touei of that level at the same time, now he able to do without any problem.

"That was good." Turning around Ichigo was met with the sight of Captain Aizen, "I have to admit I was a bit worried when your Shikai failed at first, but in the end you did exactly what I thought you'd do."

"You thought I'd increase in power?"

"Yes, of course life or death situations tend to do that."

Ichigo snorted at this, "You call that a life or death situation, even if I hadn't used my Gekkou Touei I would have easily beat him, I mean did you see him before I killed him, he had no arms."

"You felt no fear, even when the Cero was coming toward you, well I suppose you wouldn't, anyway all the other Adjuchas have been killed, all Captains and Lieutenants are to return to their normal duties."

"Right I'll see you at headquarters." Leaving Aizen behind he began travelling towards the 5th Division headquarters to get some rest.

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_Two Years Later_

Renji stood in front of a member of the 5th Division with Hinamori and Kira, they had been brought here after graduating from the Academy and now wore the Shinigami uniform that they had been given.

The man instructed them, "The Lieutenant will be here shortly and he will explain what your duties as Shinigami will be."

Kira was about to ask who their Lieutenant was when they heard a voice, "Okay so who's been transferred to us now?"

Seeing someone enter the room Renji immediately recognised him and at the same time as Kira and Hinamori he said, "Ichigo."

Looking up with a smile Ichigo replied, "Hey guys."

**A/N: I hope you liked the chapter, make sure to review and tell me what you think.**


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